The CSI Producer discusses the big crossover, what’s coming up in the remaining sweeps episodes of CSI and the return of a memorable nemesis. Lights spoilers inside!

November sweeps has already seen the historic first three CSI show crossover, but there’s more excitement to come, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Producer Allen MacDonald promises. In addition to teasing the episode he’s at work on now–which brings back a familiar face–MacDonald discusses the return of Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox), the departure of Lauren Lee Smith and Nick Stokes’ (George Eads) promotion.

CSI Files: The three-show crossover scored big in the ratings last week. How did the plans for the trilogy originate?

Allen MacDonald: It all started with [Executive Producer] Carol Mendelsohn.  It’s something she’s been wanting to do for some time now.

CSI Files: Was the crossover tricky to pull off?

MacDonald: It was just a matter of scheduling on the part of all three shows.

CSI Files: How was Ray Langston (Laurence Fishburne) chosen to be the character to tie it all together?

MacDonald: Laurence and David Caruso (Horatio Caine) have worked together in features and very much wanted to work together again.  After that, it just snowballed. It was quite a kick to watch Langston interact on-screen with Horatio Caine and Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise).

CSI Files: What else can we expect from sweeps?

MacDonald: A Dustin Lee Abraham episode involving the world of professional bowling and a decapitated human head bowling ball. Intrigued?  Believe me, by the time teaser is over, you’ll be hooked.  It’s gross – but in a fun way.

CSI Files: Bringing in a new leading man after eight and a half seasons is obviously a big challenge. What do you feel was the most difficult thing about the transition from Gil Grissom (William Petersen) to Langston?

MacDonald: Just simultaneously having to do two very important things at the same time: giving Grissom the emotionally satisfying send-off he deserves while simultaneously setting up Langston, and making him a unique, compelling character in his own right, instead of trying to simply recreate Grissom.

CSI Files: Langston’s father seems to loom large in his mind. Are there plans to see him at some point?

MacDonald: Not that I know of — the character is dead and there are no plans to depict him in flashbacks.

CSI Files: Sara Sidle sure is spending a lot of time away from her new husband! Are we meant to read anything into that?

MacDonald: I think it’s always been clear Grissom and Sara would have a non-traditional approach to marriage.

CSI Files: What was behind the decision to have Sara and Grissom marry?

MacDonald: We felt it was a natural conclusion to where we left them both at the end of “One to Go” in the rainforest of Costa Rica.

CSI Files: What was behind the decision to promote Nick Stokes?

MacDonald: To recognize his huge contribution to the team and his growth as an emerging leader.  Catherine (Marg Helgenberger) needed somebody to back her up and Nick seemed like the natural choice.

CSI Files: Nick and Langston seem to be developing a friendship. Will we see more of this?

MacDonald: Absolutely.  They’re getting to know and trust each other.

CSI Files: Greg Sanders (Eric Szmanda) is expressing a little job dissatisfaction this season with regards to the assignments he’s getting. What’s behind Greg’s disgruntled attitude?

MacDonald: It’s like he said to Sara in the premiere, he still feels he’s being treated like the geeky DNA lab tech when, in fact, he’s matured into a seasoned CSI capable of handling anything thrown his way.

CSI Files: We’ve seen a bit more of Catherine in the leadership role this season. Will this continue?

MacDonald: Yes.

CSI Files: Is there any official word on the reason why Lauren Lee Smith (Riley Adams) didn’t return for the tenth season?

MacDonald: From what I understand, it was felt Riley never quite gelled with the rest of the team because she was introduced at a pivotal point in CSI’s history – two episodes after Warrick’s (Gary Dourdan) death and seven episodes before Grissom’s departure.  As a result, the character got a bit lost in the shuffle, which is not a reflection on Lauren, who is a spectacular actress and was much-loved on the set.

CSI Files: Are there any plans for another Lab Rats episode this season?

MacDonald: Yes.  It’s going to be written by Liz Vassey (Wendy Simms) and Wallace Langham (David Hodges), who are working on it with [Executive Producer] Naren Shankar right now.

CSI Files: Are you at work on a new episode now? Can you hint at what it might be about?

MacDonald: I am.  And the only hint I can provide is that it would be the completion of a CSI storyline trilogy involving Sara Sidle and a very, very smart young girl.

The Vegas team tracks a killer… while the audience watches him go about his daily business at work and try to elude capture.

Synopsis:

The audience witnesses Paulie Krill, an office drone in the support ops department for the Tangiers, kill a man in the woods and then sees him go to work the next day, while the CSIs are called in to investigate the case. In the morgue, Doc Robbins concludes that the unidentified man was killed by several blows to the head. He also finds lacerations on the victim’s wrist, indicating that someone was trying to remove something from inside it. Catherine recovers a subcutaneous ID used by some trendy clubs as a way to gain admittance. The story flashes back to five weeks ago when the victim–a suave IT guy named Jason Deveraux shows his co-workers, including Paulie and a pretty woman named Belinda–how the device in his wrist works as a security key. In the present, Paulie’s sleazy boss hits on Belinda and Paulie defends her, impressing the young woman. In the lab, Hodges examines the murder weapon–a thick piece of metal–and posits that it may have been a piece of something that was destroyed by a pipe bomb. Catherine gets an ID off the implanted chip: Jason Deveraux. Nick and Greg find his car abandoned outside of his apartment building. While Brass questions Jason’s co-workers at the Tangiers support department, Nick and Langston go over Jason’s workspace and find it’s set up to remotely access his laptop. Brass speaks with Belinda, who placed frequent calls to Jason in the evenings, and Paulie, who openly admits he didn’t like Jason. The team also discovers Jason was accessing the computer information of several of his co-workers.

The team traces Jason’s stolen computer to a hapless neighbor, who claims he found Jason’s door wide open. Hodges finds RDX trace laced in the fingerprint on the metal murder weapon, indicating an explosive was used. The story flashes back to three weeks ago, when Jason approached Paulie to be his partner in crime on a plan to blow up a safe full of money at work and make off with the cash. In the present, the CSIs discover Jason had a penchant for blowing things up as a child–and also had an uncle at a mining company. A flashback to ten days ago reveals Jason showing Paulie the safe, his way in and the escape route–a dusty crawl way which Jason convinces Paulie to get in–and then pranks him. In the present, Paulie sees Jason’s mom visit the office to clean out Jason’s things and offers to help her. The CSIs learn another piece of metal has been found near the scene–this one with blood and a serial number on it. DNA in Jason’s bed links him to Belinda, and Brass finds her with Paulie when he goes to bring her in for questioning. Paulie covertly drops a flash drive with security codes that belonged to Jason in Belinda’s purse. Belinda admits to having a fling with the charming IT tech, but vehemently denies killing Jason.  The team learns from the serial number on the metal that it was a part of a safe, and traces it to Paulie Krill and puts an APB out for him. The final flashback takes place two nights ago, when Paulie told Jason he couldn’t go through with their plan to blow up the safe at the Tangiers and steal the money. Jason berated him, calling him “empty space” and Paulie killed him in a rage. In the present, the team rushes to the Tangiers support ops office… just in time to witness Paulie detonate his bomb. The safe explodes, the money showers down–and a piece of the safe slams into Paulie, slicing into him and trapping him. “I knew it would work,” he says, just before he dies.

Analysis:

With three CSI shows and a combined twenty-one seasons between them (not even counting the three current seasons), novel ideas are getting harder and harder to find. The concept of revealing the killer to the audience at the outset and watching as he or she tries to elude justice has been used before, but it’s a fun game-changer and works pretty effectively here. Tim Blake Nelson, best known for film roles such as O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Minority Report, is very effective as the disgruntled Paulie Krill. He’s by turns creepy and sinister, and though the audience never goes quite so far as to root for him, Nelson does a great job of conveying Paulie’s grim glee at the end of the episode when Paulie does indeed bust open the safe and sees his perfect escape… which is denied to him thanks to the laws of physics and downright rotten luck, which sends a huge piece of the safe careening into him.

Though Paulie might at first seem to be somewhat of a downtrodden office worker cliche–think the serious version of The Office’s Dwight–writer (and director) Naren Shankar puts a small but key moment in the episode that proves that Paulie is much more cunning and ruthless than he first seems. Sure, he kills Jason in a fit of rage and then presses forward with Jason’s plan, but his true devious side comes out when he slips Jason’s flash drive in Belinda’s purse. Before that moment, it seemed like Paulie was pretty smitten with Belinda–to the point that it initially seemed like his motive for killing Jason could have been jealousy. The first flashback shows Paulie longing after Belinda… as she flirts with smooth player type Jason. And the moment before Paulie slipped the drive in Belinda’s purse, she was suggesting they go get a drink, hinting that–at least in Paulie’s eyes–he may have had a shot with her. The move even more than the murder (which seems like an act of rage rather than premeditation) paints Paulie as a cunning sociopath rather than an accidental killer.

Indeed, the murder seems to bring out Paulie’s dark side. He flatly asks Belinda early in the episode, after a run in with their scuzzy supervisor Terrence–played with aplomb by Wayne Knight–if she doesn’t think “some people would be better off dead?” Later, when Jason’s forlorn mother comes to clean out his desk, Paulie doesn’t avoid her; rather, he approaches her, offering her his condolences and his help with packing up Jason’s things. No, Paulie is not a killer with a conscious–he’s a sleeper sociopath who was spurred into action by Jason’s plan and then his putdowns. Once Paulie commits to evil by killing Jason, he’s in it to win. And he almost does–the fantasy plays out in Paulie’s mind even as he expires, saying with no small amount of pride, “I knew it would work.”

The potential for violence within is mirrored in a brief scene in which Langston tests his own DNA for monoamine oxidase A–a gene that Wendy points out has been linked to violent behavior. Langston gets mad when she brings this up, pointing out that it’s genetics, not a certainty. Langston talked a bit about his father’s violent behavior in last week’s “Ghost Town” and in the premiere, “Family Affair” was bothered by the fact that he didn’t feel worse about shooting and killing Walter Ellis at the end of “All In”. That shooting, and his lack of remorse over it, is clearly weighing on Langston and causing him to wonder if he’s more like his father than he wants to believe he is. I suppose Langston having the genetic predisposition for violence is an interesting question, but I find myself more curious about why his mother’s name was left blank on the DNA profile he was examining. Was he simply only curious about a connection on his father’s side, or does it mean more? Is it possible that Langston doesn’t know his mother?

While the gimmick is fun and presents a different perspective, it’s hard not to notice that the main characters, save for Langston, are a bit lost in the shuffle. This episode is largely carried by the guest stars, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing when the likes of Nelson and Knight are making appearances, but doesn’t exactly satisfy viewers hungry for development for their favorite characters. Sara doesn’t show up this time around; it probably would have been a waste of one of Jorja Fox’s five contracted episodes to use her in this plot-heavy entry. But the show still feels somewhat in flux, missing an anchor somehow. It’s hard to lose a lead, and though William Petersen was a low key presence, he was definitely a strong one. Laurence Fishburne has a similar energy, intense but understated, and he’s a worthy new lead. But I find myself less interested in some fancy DNA explanation for what might make him angry or violent than I do about, say, the lingering feelings and wariness he might have from working alongside an Angel of Death (which does get alluded to here). “Family Affair” hearkened a return to a stronger cohesiveness among the team, and although change like that can’t come overnight, let’s hope it does come sooner, rather than later.

When CSI premiered, there was nothing else like it on television. With the series starting its tenth season tonight, times–and technology–have changed. “The actual technology has changed dramatically in the time this show has been on the air and, for that matter, the audience’s understanding of technology has changed dramatically,” Shankar explained. “In Season One you could do a whole scene about a fingerprint but you can’t do that anymore. You don’t get a whole montage out of pulling a fingerprint. That was a big deal when the show first came on the air but as the technology has improved and we’ve captured the new technology and put them in the show the audience has been educated along the way. Luckily, people are very, very inventive in new techniques and new instrumentation kind of comes up all the time so we try to use that as much as possible.”

Another thing that has changed is the CSI cast. “You always hope they’ll stick around forever,” Shankar said. “It’s great when you’re lucky enough to be on a show where you can have that core group of people that everyone gravitated to initially, that sort of magical chemistry that makes a show a hit. I think that television is about family. You’re inviting these people into your house every week so you kind of like when they are all there. All shows that are lucky enough to have long runs have to deal with it.”

Dealing with cast changes involves remembering what the series is all about, Shankar said. “You just have to manage it in a way that keeps the show true to its roots,” he explained. “I think what happens a lot of times on shows is that people change the things that made them what they are. If we suddenly said ‘Oh my God, you know what? We need to have really super young people’ or ‘It has to be sexy and people sleeping with each other’ that would make our show not what it is. We’re a forensics-driven mystery show and that’s sort of in our DNA so hopefully we won’t have to deal with any cast changes from here on out. You never know but I will say that we’re very aware what the show is fundamentally and that’s not going to change.”

The most recent major cast change on CSI came when William Petersen (Gil Grissom) left and Laurence Fishburne (Dr Ray Langston) joined the show. “We all worked with Billy for so long and working with Laurence has given us a whole new way to look at things, a whole new way to come into crimes and different attitudes so it’s great,” Shankar said. “The cast is getting along really, really well and we’re having a lot of fun with it.”

Former cast member Jorja Fox is reprising her role as Sara Sidle in several episodes this season, bringing a familiar face back to the show. “In a sense, she is stepping into her old role but it’s a little bit of a different Sara,” Shankar revealed. “The Sara who left was burnt out, was pretty messed up by the job and what happened to her but when she first came back there was a big question mark in her life which was the nature of her relationship with Grissom but that actually got resolved in a very happy way.”

“What’s really fun about having Jorja back is she lightens things up,” he added. “Sara comes in at a moment in our premiere when the team is a little bit fractured and things aren’t quite working very well. She’s able to help the guys and Catherine [Willows, Marg Helgenberger] in particular adjust to the new reality of the way things are now. It’s a nice way to bring Jorja back into the fold and we’re actually having a really good time with it.”

As CSI Files previously reported, all three members of the franchise will participate in a crossover during November sweeps. Fishburne’s character will be at the center of the storyline. “He’s going to be called to a case in Miami and then travels to New York and then ends up in Las Vegas,” Shankar said. The CSI: Miami episode starts things out on Monday, November 9. The plot then shifts to CSI: New York on Wednesday, November 11 and finishes out on CSI Thursday, November 12. Shankar added, “Logistically it’s really challenging but I think it’s going to be very cool.”

“Do not miss the first two-and-a-half minutes of CSI season premiere,” Shankar said. “It will blow your mind. It may be one of the most incredible things we’ve ever put on film. It’s so beautiful and it’s so cool.”

Jorja Fox will reprise her role as Sara Sidle in the premiere, but Shanker isn’t sure whether the actress will return to the series full time. “I honestly can’t say [for sure] at this point,” he explained. “All I will say is we’re having a great time and I think Jorja is having a great time. I think she’s having more fun now than she did before. Having a little space from something, you get to clean your palate and be refreshed as an artist.”

In the ninth season finale of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, “All In”, Dr Ray Langston (Laurence Fishburne) shot someone for the first time. “The shooting has really driven home a couple of things for him,” executive producer Naren Shankar explained to TV Guide. “You’re going to see a much more confident, much more driven Dr Langston.” Shankar added, “I think the audience is hungry for Langston to kind of take the Sherlock Holmes mantle and be the guy who solves these crimes.”

“The theme this year is family,” he continued. “Catherine [Willows, Marg Helgenberger] is dealing with her new level of responsibility. Nick [Stokes, George Eads] is finding his place as more of a leader in the field. Greg [Sanders, Eric Szmanda] is still dealing with the fact that when you start out as somebody’s assistant, there’s still a tendency for people to treat him like he’s just the DNA guy with the goofy hair.” Shankar also revealed that the “little geeky romance” between Wendy Simms (Liz Vassey) and David Hodges (Wallace Langham) is going to continue during season ten.

With Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox) back in town after the departure of Riley Adams (Lauren Lee Smith), fans will find out what happened between Sara and Gil Grissom (William Petersen) after he left the show last season. “You definitely get some clues as to how things have been going in Grissom and Sara Land,” Shanker explained. One person that fans won’t be seeing, however, is Sofia Curtis. Despite the recent report that Louise Lombard would reprise her role during season ten, a CSI insider tells Ausiello that such a return “hasn’t been discussed.”

Over on CSI: Miami, Ausiello reports that Adam Rodriguez (Eric Delko) is committed to doing seven episodes of the eighth season before saying goodbye to the series. Delko’s girlfriend, fellow CSI Calleigh Duquesne (Emily Procter), shot at him in the season seven finale “Seeing Red” when he was trying to help his father, Russian mobster Alexander Sharova (Rade Serbedzija). Both characters will have to deal with the repercussions of their actions as the new season gets underway. “She’s upset that her boyfriend is hurt but has no remorse,” Procter told TV Guide. “I shot a scene the other day where she was like, ‘Look, he was not doing right, and I shot him. You’d shoot him too.’”

The end of Calleigh and Eric’s relationship might be on the horizon, Procter revealed. “It will only work out if he’s physically capable of continuing the relationship, which he may or may not be,” she said. “Calleigh may once again have to move on.”

While Delko is injured in the season premiere, the episode will flash back to his memories of 1997. Procter explained, “The story line is showing how everybody meets, and his first view of everyone–I was new on the force; Adam’s character was working as a tow truck driver; Horatio [Caine, David Caruso] had his same job.” In order to appear younger, “I sucked my stomach in really hard,” Procter said with a laugh. More seriously, she added, “And I tried to make Calleigh the way she would have been before the damage of her job–more Southern and light–less protected and more enthusiastic about everything. I’m hoping that it’s going to work. Either that or I’m just going to look really amped up.”

Newcomer Eddie Cibrian will join the team as Jesse Cardoza at the start of season eight. “He is utterly charming, absolutely gorgeous,” Procter said of her new costar. “Eddie’s really going to add a kind of sex appeal that we haven’t had. A little bit more open sexuality. Which is good!” She added, “In the second episode Eddie takes his shirt off, and maybe people are excited by that, and by people, I mean me.”

The third member of the franchise will also deal with a shooting in the season premiere. CSI: New York’s sixth season will jump forward in time after the shootout that ended the season five finale, “Pay Up”. “In the premiere, we’re trying to figure out who was responsible for the shooting,” executive producer Pam Veasey told TV Guide. “It’s approximately a month later, and we haven’t solved that crime.”

The premiere will answer the question of who, if anyone, was wounded by the flying bullets. “People are wondering who got hit, and someone did,” Veasey revealed. “There is a surprise.” She continued, “All of our characters are struggling with what happened [during the shooting], but Mac [Taylor, Gary Sinise] is really driven by finding the answer.”

Mac is driven to find the answer, but he isn’t the only one affected by the shooting. Newlyweds Danny Messer (Carmine Giovinazzo) and Lindsay Monroe (Anna Belknap) will face “a change as a result of that shooting,” Veasey promised. “It’s worth tuning in for, big time.”

Meanwhile, Don Flack (Eddie Cahill) is still dealing with the death of his girlfriend and fellow detective, Jessica Angell (Emmanuelle Vaugier). “His relationships with everyone are a little strained,” Veasey said. Dr Sheldon Hawkes (Hill Harper) will also deal with a personal problem during season six, but his troubles come in the form of “financial issues”, Veasey revealed.

Miami will be the first member of the franchise to air its season premiere on Monday, September 21 at 10:00pm ET/PT. New York will follow that Wednesday, September 23 at 10:00pm ET/PT. Rounding out the week will be CSI, which will debut the first episode of its tenth season on Thursday, September 24 at 9:00pm ET/PT.

The original spoilers are from the September 14th issue of TV Guide and Ausiello. Thanks to SpoilerTV for information and perlnoir from TalkCSI for the heads up.